Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Nine warning signs of pedophilia

Lenore Skenazy explains how virtually all men are suspected pedophiles, including:

The story, by veteran journalist and former political adviser Candace Sutton, originally warned:

“Paedophiles are often the victims of child molestation themselves. If you know this about a person’s past, beware. It’s all very well to feel sorry for a person, but don’t let them anywhere near young people you know.”

That passage has now been removed, with no acknowledgement from the site. A short biography was also uploaded, claiming Sutton has decades of experience covering the crimes of sex offenders.

This particular prejudice is so widespread that there are men who have attempted suicide out of the believe that some childhood abuse would turn him into a pedophile. As far as I know, there is no scientific evidence for it.

The memory of being raped when I was seven was never repressed. It was not recovered under hypnosis. It has always been with me, festering. When I was a teenager, I began researching how being raped as a child might affect the development of my personality. And I recoiled in horror. Every study I read supported the vicious cycle theory. That victims of pedophilia are more likely to become pedophiles themselves. I felt like a werewolf had bitten me and it was only a matter of time before the full moon rose.

Throughout my early adolescence, I was constantly, tortuously checking myself for evil impulses. I made a blood oath with myself that if I started feeling the desire to rape children I would kill myself and make it look like a mountaineering accident. I was already in the habit of solo rock climbing. No partners, no ropes despite my parents' repeated warnings against such a dangerous activity. Had I throw myself down a mountain they would have believed it. And better a son who died climbing than one who lived and rape kids.

People also widely subscribe to unscientific theories about the origin of other sexual preferences.

The article still has an assortment of other prejudices against men. Because of these prejudices, you rarely see men anymore in jobs like elementary school teacher. Any man who likes kids is suspect, and there are probably a lot of men who cannot see their own kids because somebody thinks that there is something wrong with a man liking his own kids.